shut
verb /ʃʌt/
/ʃʌt/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they shut | /ʃʌt/ /ʃʌt/ |
| he / she / it shuts | /ʃʌts/ /ʃʌts/ |
| past simple shut | /ʃʌt/ /ʃʌt/ |
| past participle shut | /ʃʌt/ /ʃʌt/ |
| -ing form shutting | /ˈʃʌtɪŋ/ /ˈʃʌtɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to close something; to become closed
- The window won't shut.
- The doors open and shut automatically.
- The door shuts and locks behind her.
- shut something Philip went into his room and shut the door behind him.
- I can't shut my suitcase—it's too full.
- She shut her eyes and fell asleep immediately.
- He shut his book and looked up.
- [intransitive, transitive] (British English) when a shop, restaurant, etc. shuts or when somebody shuts it, it stops being open for business and you cannot go into it
- The bank shuts at 4.
- What time do the shops shut on Saturday?
- We left the hotel only to discover that the whole city shuts at 10.30.
- The factory is going to shut next year.
- shut something We decided to shut the cafe early as there were no customers.
- They're going to shut two plants in Texas and fire 2 240 workers.
Which Word? close / shutclose / shutYou can close and shut doors, windows, your eyes, mouth, etc.- Shut can suggest more noise and is often found in phrases such as slammed shut, banged shut, snapped shut.
- Shut is also usually used for containers such as boxes, suitcases, etc.
- To talk about the time when shops, offices, etc. are not open, use close or shut:
- What time do the banks close/shut?
- A strike has shut the factory.
- The store is closed/shut today.
- Closed is used in front of a noun, but shut is not:
- a closed window.
- We usually use closed about roads, airports, etc:
- The road is closed because of the snow.
- Close is also used in formal English to talk about ending a meeting or conversation.
Word OriginOld English scyttan ‘put (a bolt) in position to hold fast’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch schutten ‘shut up, obstruct’, also to shoot.
Idioms
close/shut the door on something
- to make it unlikely that something will happen
- She was careful not to close the door on the possibility of further talks.
keep your mouth shut
- (informal) to not talk about something to somebody because it is a secret or because it will upset or annoy them
- I've warned them to keep their mouths shut about this.
- Now she's upset—why couldn't you keep your mouth shut?
- The athletes were warned to keep their mouths shut about politics.
shut/slam the door in somebody’s face
- to shut a door hard when somebody is trying to come in
- to refuse to talk to somebody or meet them, in a rude way
shut/close the door on something
- to make it unlikely that something will happen
- She was careful not to shut the door on the possibility of further talks.
shut/close your ears to something
- to refuse to listen to something
- She decided to shut her ears to all the rumours.
shut/close your eyes to something
- to pretend that you have not noticed something so that you do not have to deal with it
- You can't just close your eyes to his violence.
- They seem intent on shutting their eyes to the problems of pollution.
shut your mouth/face!
- (slang) a rude way of telling somebody to be quiet or stop talking
shut up shop
- (British English, informal) to close a business permanently or to stop working for the day
with your eyes shut/closed
- very easily, without thinking about it
- I've made this trip so often, I could do it with my eyes shut.